Traveling with Tilley: Why We Love Our Tilley Endurables Hats

We're traveling with Tilley Endurables Hats -and we're taking them all the way around the world

With Cindy, Tilley Endurables hat guru.

There’s nothing I love more than getting my backpack out a week (or two!) before a trip, grasping my packing list (you all know how I feel about lists), and laying out my clothing for a trip. I envision all the exciting scenes where I’ll show off my little black dress and the hikes I’ll embark on in a new pair of trail runners.

Every chance to travel is precious one and I want to enjoy every step of the process, from booking tickets and reading guidebooks to sorting through photos and distributing the souvenirs.  It always pains me to hear people say how much they hate packing. Packing should be easy, uncomplicated, and stress free.

Investing in a high quality, long lasting, versatile, and comfortable travel wardrobe you love is a fun and practical way to tackle packing challenges and have a more enjoyable travel experience. 

We are so proud to partner with Canadian made Tilley Endurables to build the perfect travel wardrobe for our upcoming round the world trip and demonstrate to our readers that packing can be a pleasure, not a chore. 

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With stops in New York City, Paris, Brussels, Liege, Bruges, Istanbul, Bangkok, Mandalay, Bagan, Yangon, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, and San Francisco, our round –the-world trip is a real packing challenge – how could we possibly find pieces to work so many different locations and climates? Complicating the matter is that we’re going for an ultra-light approach: just one carryon bag each, under 15lbs. Fortunately, Tilley didn’t shrink from the challenge!

I love that Tilley makes clothing for all body shapes, with sizes going up to 20 or 3XL. I love that all their products (except the socks!) are made in Canada and that they offer on the spot, in house tailoring and alterations. While most clothing comes in a wide range of neutrals, they do offer colorful and decorative options – there’s a blazing red Tilley hat, a brightly colored, flowered shirt dress, and rainbow of cardigans to choose from.

Best of all, they are extremely light weight, easy to hand wash, and will dry overnight without wrinkles. This is exactly the kind of clothing that we need on our trip!For a sneak peak of what’s going to be in our packs, we'll be reviewing a few pieces of Tilley gear in upcoming posts. We start however, with the most famous item, known the world over:

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The Tilley Hat

The beautiful TH9 Women’s Hemp Hat

Vanessa
Having a Tilley hat feels like being inducted into an exclusive club of legendary travelers and globetrotters (and officially gives me something in common with Prince Phillip!) A good hat offers protection from sun, the elements, and insects. Tilley makes dozens of different hats with different styles, materials, and purposes, so I was thrilled that store associate extraordinaire Cindy was able to help narrow down my choices, showing me several lightweight models with natural, breathable fabric. I settled on this stylish hemp hat, as it was my favorite style and had the more natural fit for my head. I love that it came with extra hat bands so I could change up my look and the chocolate brown color was my favourite.

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Am I tired? upset? NO! This is proper hat sizing technique!

Ryan
There were so many hats to choose from. Thankfully Cindy was there to help me narrow things down and keep me focused. She knew my size right away which impressed me, and immediately led me over to 2 different hats she thought would work for where we were going (and had already picked a favourite). Before I decided, I had to try on others, but wouldn't you know it, I picked the one that Cindy had chosen. She just knew. I would come to rely on her throughout the afternoon at Tilley. Anytime I wasn't sure, I'd ask her. She always just knew. 

My new chapeau is the Organic Cotton AIRFLO® Hat. I have worn it camping, on walks, working in the garden, and in the pouring rain putting it through its paces. It wears well, it dries fast, and it fits like a glove - well, a glove that was made for the head. I love this hat.

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Tilley hats come with a lifetime guarantee against wearing out and they also offer insurance against loss and theft. Ultra durable, easy to clean, guaranteed to float, with SPF 50 and with a secret hidden pocket, I can honestly say that there’s nothing I would change about my hat selection. I’m looking forward to wearing it in SouthEast Asia and Australia as part of my ongoing battle to avoid the sun!

Update!!! Curious to see how our hats looked on our round-the-world trip? Here we are outside Fort Mandalay, Myanmar, with our hats shielding us from the 40 degree heat!

Staying cool and stylish in the Myanmar sun.

As always, I welcome and encourage your comments. What piece of clothing is a must-pack, the one thing you can't live without? 

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